LAPD HOPEFULS TOE LINE; CANDIDATES FOR CHIEF SEE RIORDAN'S VIEW : LEE BACA.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

The six semifinalists hoping to become L.A.'s next police chief are a smart bunch.

Four have master's degrees. One boasts a doctorate in public administration. All of them have studied the latest management theories in law enforcement or have spent years learning it on the streets.

And all of them know who will be making the final decision for the job: Mayor Richard Riordan.

Which may explain why the semifinalists, in written ``vision statements'' submitted to the city, and in interviews with the Daily News, have trumpeted many of Riordan's themes as they detail their visions for the nation's second-largest police department, including:

The strong demand for community-based policing.

The need to revamp the department's management to give more power to field commanders and their ranks.

The importance of acquiring better equipment and automating crime data to better tackle crime.

``After awhile, they (candidates) all kind of sounded alike,'' said one member of the blue-ribbon committee that interviewed chief candidates and narrowed the list of applicants for the job down to six.

``They all strongly endorse community-based policing,'' the committee member said. ``They represented the mayor's views.''

That was especially true, the panelist said, of the two contenders believed to have the strongest pull with the mayor - Deputy Chiefs Bernard Parks and Mark Kroeker.

The other semifinalists are LAPD Deputy Chief Dave Gascon; LAPD Cmdr. Art Lopez; Sacramento Police Chief Arturo Venegas Jr.; and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department division chief Lee Baca.

The Police Commission will conduct interviews Tuesday and Wednesday and recommend three finalists to the mayor on July 29.

Here's what the semifinalists say about the future of the LAPD:

Baca, 55, is a division chief overseeing six sheriff's stations serving 550,000 residents in areas including, Carson, Lennox and West Hollywood.

Born in East Los Angeles, Baca holds a doctorate degree. He placed third in the chief selection process in 1992, the year former Philadelphia Police Chief Willie L. Williams got the job.

In the written vision statement he submitted to Los Angeles officials, Baca said he would revamp the management structure of the agency and implement new community policing initiatives that have been successful in the Sheriff's Department.

Saying management is too diffuse, Baca has proposed creating a new Executive Planning Council - composed of LAPD brass, representatives of the Mayor's Office, City Council and Police Protective League - that would make policy decisions.

``There has to be a cohesion or partnership between City Hall and the Police Department,'' Baca said in an interview, adding that decisions now take too long without the joint-decision making.

In addition, the 32-year veteran of law enforcement would require the LAPD brass to meet periodically with field officers to plan operations.

Taking a page from his current department, Baca would also develop a ``high-impact'' community-based policing program that would target problem areas in each division and conduct door-to-door surveys to help determine ways to better serve the public.

For the residents, Baca said, ``They in fact feel they have had a say in what the Police Department is doing. The whole idea of community-based policing is to be directed by the community.''

Dave Gascon

Gascon, 47, is chief of staff for interim Chief Bayan Lewis. For two years, he headed the LAPD's Human Resources Bureau, where he oversaw the mayor's efforts to greatly expand the police force.

Born in San Pedro, Gascon went to local schools and has a bachelor's and master's degree in management and administration. A 26-year veteran, Gascon served as the LAPD's spokesman during the O.J. Simpson trial.

In his written statement to city officials, Gascon proposed expanding community-based policing to boost residents' involvement in crime prevention; decentralizing management to give field commanders more authority and accountability; and adopting the NYPD's ``Compstat'' model of using crime analysis to get field commanders focused on priority problems.

``The Los Angeles Police Department has experienced significant trauma over the past six years, and there now exists an opportunity to re-establish the Police Department as the credible, professional and responsive public safety agency of its glorious past,'' Gascon wrote.

In an interview, Gascon said he would also provide the strong leadership needed to keep the LAPD on the right track.

``What you've seen over time is that there has not been the leadership at the top needed to effectively carry out the department's mission and mandates from outside,'' Gascon said.

Mark Kroeker

Kroeker, 53, is serving as head of the Office of Administrative Services, after stints as the commanding officer of the South and Valley bureaus.

A 32-year veteran of the department, Kroeker holds a master of science degree in international public administration from the University of Southern California.

In an interview with the Daily News, Kroeker said his vision includes improving communication between management and field officers, providing a clear plan, better equipment and police stations; and continuing department efforts to implement community-based policing.

``The vision is of a Los Angeles Police Department which is eminent among its peers, one which is studied and respected worldwide, one where police officers hold their heads up high,'' Kroeker said.

The deputy chief shares the mayor's enthusiasm for the NYPD's Compstat program and increased computerization of crime data.

``What we need to do is have the top levels of the organization involved in the picture,'' Kroeker said. ``We have staff meetings here now where we talk about everything but crime.''

Kroeker said the department needs to streamline and better prioritize the many and sometimes competing initiatives launched by politicians, studies and reform commissions.

He said there are more than 170 projects vying for the time of LAPD command staff, many of which are distracting from efforts to fight crime.

Art Lopez

Lopez, 47, is the lowest-ranked candidate for chief but has had a high profile in the department, where he is the point man for merging the Metropolitan Transportation Agency police into the LAPD.

Raised in Monterey Park, Lopez has been with the department for 24 years. He has a bachelor's degree in public administration from USC and is working on a master's in management.

In his written statement, Lopez says the LAPD should adopt more entrepreneurial ideas of the private sector for creating a more efficient and effective department. He said the other law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles should be merged into the LAPD, and the local agencies should implement a regionalization of services.

In an interview, he said the chief needs to get out into the field to get a better handle on the problems facing officers on the front line and the residents they serve.

``I need to reach out to individuals inside the organization and outside the organization to build relationships,'' he said. ``There's a lot more work that needs to be done with the community.''

The department also needs to establish ``operational goals'' that are clear and easy for officers to carry out.

``We have a strategic plan that is too broad. We need to narrow it down,'' Lopez said.

He also said the community-based policing program - and specifically the network of community police advisory boards set up in each division - has fallen short of fully involving the diverse communities served by the LAPD.

Bernard Parks

Parks, 53, is head of the Office of Operations. A native of Texas, he has a bachelor's degree in public management and a master's degree in public administration from USC.

Parks has 32 years with the department, including stints in West Valley, Narcotics, Internal Affairs and Training Divisions.

He finished second to Willie Williams in the 1992 chief selection process.

Parks sought an interview with the blue-ribbon committee to contrast himself with what he said was Williams' insular management style, a source said.

In an interview, Parks said he would exert strong leadership to restore the LAPD's reputation as a great law enforcement agency.

``The No. 1 thing is I'd like to see our image enhanced, and that goes hand in hand with raising the level and quality of the work we do,'' Parks said.

Parks believes field commanders already have a lot of authority to determine how their troops serve the public, but he said the commanders have lacked a clear enough vision from above.

``We have to give them more understanding of what we think is important and then tell them how we will hold them accountable,'' Parks said.

That effort will be enhanced by adopting the NYPD's Compstat model of computer crime analysis and regular meetings between the top chiefs and the field commanders to go over strategies for dealing with identified problems.

The department's efforts to better police the city are also closely tied into the department expanding its move into community-based policing, Parks said.

``We have to rely on the public to help us set priorities and to tell us where crime problems are,'' Parks said.

Arturo Venegas Jr.

Venegas, 48, has been chief of the Sacramento Police Department since 1993. Previously, he rose up through the ranks of the Fresno Police Department, where he reached the rank of deputy chief.

Born into poverty in Mexico, Venegas has kept a low profile in the competition for the LAPD job, refusing interviews.

However, officials in Los Angeles say Venegas has outlined a vision that includes building on successes he has had with community policing and improving technology in the Sacramento Police Department.

In Sacramento, Venegas has won praise for innovative programs that target high-crime areas and enlist the help of residents to resolve crime problems, said Michael Picker, chief of staff for the mayor of Sacramento.

``He's done a stellar job of changing the Police Department from the old-style patrol to the new style of community policing,'' Picker said.

For example, Venegas assigned two police officers to one housing project with serious crime problems and encouraged them to rent an apartment in the complex.

As residents of the neighborhood, the officers started a youth athletic league that allowed them to win over young people and their parents, who were at first suspicious.

The result was a 40 percent reduction in crime, Picker said.

Venegas has also made strides in improving the computerization of the department, despite the fact that the city has suffered budget problems.

Picker said Venegas has helped hold down costs by going out and getting grants from the state and federal governments.